Dentist&#39;s wheeled operatory unit



Nov. 26, 1963 J. H. sHAcKELFoRD 3,111,759

DENTISTS WHEELED oPERAToRY UNIT Filed. Oct. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l [L 25 /5/ l ,8 ,4 7 a /9 /4- j' v l INVENTOR I vJalm, linfa ckelfold ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 J. H. sHAcKELFoRD 3,111,759

DENTIST'S WHEELED oPERAToRY UNIT Filed oct. 2, 1961 5 meets-snaai, 2

INVENTOR By-QW ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 J. H. sHAcKELFoRD 3,111,759

DENTIST'S WHEELED oPERAToRY UNIT Filed Oct. 2, 1961 5 Shets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR BY y/(g.

ATTORNEY Nov. Z6, 1963 J. H. SHACKELFORD 3,111,759

DENTIST'S WHEELED oPERAToRY UNIT Filed oct. 2, 1961 5 sheets-sheet 4 -94 INVENTOR BY la. /oube ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 J. H. sHAcKl-:LFORD 3,111,759

DENTIST'S WHEELED OPERATORY UNIT Filed Oct. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet'. 5

INVENTOR Elm .Hin on flut ckelfozd,

m; QM

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,111,759 DENTllSTS WHEELED GPERATGRY UNET .lohn Hinton Shacheliord, 796 Latrobe Bldg., 2 E. Read St., Baltimore 2, Md. Filed Get. 2, wel, Ser. No. 133,344 8 Claims. (Cl. 32--22) The present invention relates to a dentists Wheeled operatory unit and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements of parts herein described and claimed.

Generally there is' provided a dentists wheeled operatory unit having the general coniiguration of a knee hole desk and mounted on large wheels or casters to permit it to roll forwardly and backwardly in front of a dental chair to allow patients to enter or leave the chair when the unit is rolled back, and the dentist to work conveniently and more comfortably when the unit is rolled forwardly toward the chair. The top of the operatory unit provides a large work surface or table, and sets of drawers in the unit conveniently hold instruments and dental accessories. Flexible conduits conduct hot and cold water to the unit and waste water from a sink mounted in the unit and from an adjustable cuspidor mounted thereon. The unit desirably houses an air compressor for driving pneumatic drills and instruments. The unit is optionally provided with an electric motor for propelling the unit toward and away from the dental chair. Alternatively, the unit can be made stationary and the chair movable.

There is also provided a wheel or caster mounted laboratory unit consisting of a set of matching cabinets capable of being moved to various positions and locations as desired in the dentists ofiice. These cabinet sections carry and house related apparatus, storage compartments for materials, and drawers for tools and instruments, etc.

In conventional dental installations, new instruments have inadvisably been hung here and there on old types and designs of fixed, rigid or immobilized dental units to the dentists inconvenience and discomfort and at excessive expense to the profession and ultimately to the public. The mobile dentists wheeled operatory unit herein disclosed makes these instruments more comfortably accessible to the dentist while at the same time greatly increasing his work area in front of the patient.

rhe costs of installation of this mobile operatory unit are extremely low, since it is necessary merely to position the unit in front of a dental chair, plug the connector of the electric cable into a conventional wall outlet and connect the flexible plumbing conduits to conventional water supply and drain devices. Removal is equally easy and simple and results in no disiigurement of the property, thus overcoming often encountered landlord objection to dentists as tenants needing permanent conventional installations that deface the property when removed.

lt is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a mobile dentists operatory unit that requires no property disfiguring installation operations.

lt is another object of the invention to provide such a unit which resembles a knee hole desk that can be moved toward or away from the patient quickly and easily.

it is a further object of the invention to provide a device of the character described which greatly increases the comfort of the dentist and ease of access to his tools and instruments' by providing a large work surface and easily accessible instrument drawers and holders.

lt is another object of the invention to provide a laboratory unit carried by and housed in sectionalized caster mounted cabinet sections that can be grouped or separated as desired.

Other and further objects of the invention will become ICC d apparent from a reading of the following specication taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FGURE l is a plan view of a mobile operatory unit embodying the invention,

FlGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the unit of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the unit of FlC-URES l and 2,

FlGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the disclosure of FlGURE l from the right end of said figure,

FGURE 5 is an end elevational view of the showing of FIGURE l from the left end of said gure.

FlGURE 6 is a fragmentary end elevational view of a second species of the propelling mechanism in section on a plane corresponding to line 6-6 of FIGURE 2,

FEGURE 7 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a third species of the electric propelling mechanism including a guiding track,

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary end elevational view of a further modification of the propelling mechanism and a rack-type track therefor,

FEGURE 9 is a perspective view of a typical installation utilizing both the operatory and laboratory units of the invention,

FlGURi-E l() is a front elevational view of one of the laboratory sections in vertical section taken on a plane immediately behind the front wall thereof,

FlGUl-E ll is a side elevational view, in vertical medial section through the operatory unit, of a mobile chair embodiment of the invention, and

FGURE l2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of mobile chair.

With reference now to ltllGUR-ES l-5 of the drawings, the numeral lll generally designates the operatory unit as a whole. The unit li comprises a left cabinet section l2 and a right cabinet section 13 separately fabricated for economy of manufacture and joined together by a bridging rear panel ld and by an opaque lglass top panel l5 serving as an easily cleaned Work surface. A shallow instrument drawer may be placed between cabinets .l2 and 13 immediately beneath panel l5. The frame in which the drawer operates will serve with rear panel le to fasten sections l2 and 13 together securely at the top and back. The space between the cabinet sections and under the top panel l5 and shallow instrument drawer housing is left forwardly open to receive therein the legs and feet of a patient sitting in a conventional dental chair generally designated lo, when the unit il is moved to its use position shown in FlGURES 4 and 5. The numeral l' generally designates a conventional adjustable dentists stool.

The mobile operatory unit lll iis herein disclosed as being movably mounted on four rubber tired Wheels i8, for which casters (not shown) could be substituted if preferred. The rear pair of wheels l is interconnected by a shaft i9 to which is keyed a pulley 20. A reversible electric motor 2l carries on its drive shaft a pulley 22. A belt 23 interconnects the pulleys Ztl and 22 so that energization `of motor 2l causes automotive movement of the unit .il by ldriving the rear pair of wheels 1S in the direction desired under the control of a switch or switches Z3 mounted in and on a control box 24. Power is supplied to the control box 2,4 and thence to the motor 2 and the other electrically powered parts of the unit 1l by a flexible cable 25' having a conventional connector plug (not shown).

A conventional brake or locking device, operable by a pedal 26 is associated with the right front wheel i8 to anchor the unit against unintentional movements.

A sink or lavatory 27 is located in the upper rear portion of the left cabinet section l2 and is made accessible by being mounted in or formed as a drawer slidable either laterally or rearwardly from beneath the top panel l5. Alternatively, the sink-covering par-t of the panel could be cut out and hinged or made slidaole to cover or uncover the sink 27. A conventional basin or cuspidor 2 is horizontally swingably mounted on a drain fixture 2@ fastened to the upper front yface of `the left cabinet l2. The basin 2S includes a goose-necked faucet for filling drinking cups and for flushing the basin. A flexible drain conduit 3l extends from the drain ii .ure Z' to a trap 32 beneath and coupled -to the simi Waste water fr rn the sink 27 and the basin 23 discharges through the trap 32 into a drain conduit 33, the far end of which `is easily coupled to a `wall enclosed drain pipe 33a ('FlG. 3).

A pair of ilexible tubes and 35, encased in a nexible tubular jacket 3d conduct het and cold water from conventional `faucets or couplers 35e (HG. 3) to he faucets 3@ and 37 of the basin 7.8 and the sink Z7, respectively.

An air compresser driven by an electric motor 39 is mounted in the cabinet section l2 beneath the sinlr 27. A hinged door itl provides access to the compressor compartment. rthis equipment and placement are optional; space can serve other purposes.

An electrically heated dry heat sterilizer il is located in the upper forward portion of the cabinet section l2. 'the sterilizer il opens at the end of the unit ll and the opening is closed by a hinged door having an insulating handle 43.

On the upper fom/'ard portion at the left ot instrument drawers of the unit il, there is mounted a row of bnacket openings dit' for easily removably holding a plurality of power operated dental instrx ncnts collectively designated 45 and housed in a slidably mounted nar-row deep drawer. Instruments d are here shown as being electrically energized by flexible cables de including take-ups 47, but optionally one or more of said tools could be pneumatically powered by compressed air from the coinpressor 3S or hydraulically driven by `water supplied by the hoses Srl and 35.

A tie-r of shallow drawers is slidably mounted in the front half of cabinet section lf3 (FIG. 2) and above a relatively deep storage drawer si?. Behind drawers 4S and i9 is a tier of swing out drawers opening at the rear of the right end of operatory unit ll.

Due to the quarter-circular shape or the swinging drawers 50, they occupy only half of the rear portion of cabinet section .1.3. This permits the installation of a similar tier of swinging drawers Sl through horizontal slots in the rear wall panel l of the unit ll (lFlG. 3). These drawers lare optional. A tier of shallow drawers as in the front 'half of cabinet may be used to open either at end or back.

The lower front space wit'rdn the cabinet section l2 and below the sterilizer 4l is occupied by the three storage drawers 52, 53 and 5d slidable through slots in the front wall of section l2 (FIGS. 2 and 5).

In the species of Fl-1G. 6, an operatory unit e@ has a pair of its wheels 6l fixed to a shaft The shaft 62 carries a pinion `63 keyed thereto. A double-acting pneuina-tic cylinder 64 is connected by conventional conduits and valve structures (not shown) to the air compressor 38. A piston rod 65 of the cylinder ed has a rack 66 fixed to its outer end in a position to engage and drive the pinion `625 for moving' the operatory et? back and forth as indicated by the arrow o7.

In the modification of 4FlGUlE 7, an operator j unit 7i? has its wheels 7l guided in tracks 72 of U-shaped cross sections and having their ends :upturned at 73 to form stops yfor preventing rolling of the wheels '7l off the ends of the tracks 72. One (or more) of the wheels '7l is driven by an electric motor (not shown) similar to the motor 2l (FlG. 2) which drives wheel or wheels 7l through gears and 5 and a shaft "lo fixed to the wheel 7l and to the gear '75.

ln the species of PEG. 8, an operatory unit dll has its wheels dl provided with sprocket-like teeth 82. The teeth SZ mate with cooperating depressions 83 in tracks Sil. Two or" the wheels El are lixed to a shaft 85 to which is keyed a sprocket 86. A drive chain 87' couples the sprocket 86 to a sprocket The sprocket S3 is lined to the drive shaft of an electric motor 89 which is reversible to propel the unit titl back and forth in the direction indicated by an arrow 3tlg.

With reference now to yElGURES 9 and l0, the numerals 9i, 22; and 93 generally designate three separate sections of a laboratory unit. The sections l-93 each are mounted on wheels or casters to Jfacilitate their moving to and from convenient or desired positions. Each section has a pair of top drawers 95 and 96, a shallow central drawer 57 and a pair of bottom compartments closed. by hinged doors 9S and $9;

A pair of sliding panels ldd and lill of opaque glass or other suitable material covers the top of the sections ll-93 and provides access to apparatus housed in the top portions thereof, such as a grinder and polisher to2 in section QI.. The grinder lll?. has a hood and air eX- ha st conduit collectively ldesignated N3.

The laboratory section $3 is shown in greater detail in FIGURE lf), in which one of the upper drawers houses heating equipment lll-d for impression material and the other contains a burn-out furnace 2h35. The elements `lil-tl and "slid could be placed in a cabinet with a polisher also, to permit the sarne exhaust fan to eliminate unpleasant odors. Drawer Il holds a plurality of impression trays rl'lie lower compartments are shown as holding towels it?? and dental supplies collectively designated ln the species of `FlGURE ll, an operatory unit generally designated lltl is made stationary, lbeing mounted on a pair of laterally disposed bars `llll serving as feet, only the far one being visible in the sectional view of FlG- URE ll. A back panel il?, of metal, plastic or wood, as preferred, and a glass table top M3 correspond to like parts in the mobile operatory unit of FlGURES l through 9.

A panel ld deiining the far left wall of the knee space under the top panel ILES, has mounted thereon an angle bar M5 whi h together with a similar angle bar, not visible in FIGURE ll, constitutes a supporting and guiding slide for a shallow drawer llo. Numerals 23 and Ell' designate a swingable basin and a goosenecked faucet colnresponding, respectively, to parts 2i?, and 36 previously described.

The numeral H7 generally designates a dental chair of generally known construction above its base plate M8. The base plate ll@ is mounted on a plurality of lowfriction rollers or casters i119 so that the chair M7 can be easily moved to and from its operatory position shown by phantom lines in FIGURE l1, in which position the front rollers engage stop blocks llZll. A foot pedal i271 operates a conventional brake (not shown) for locking the rollers il@ against, or releasing the same for, movement of the chair l'l'. lf desired, the rollers M9y can be reversibly driven by a motor (not shown) similar to the motor Ztl described in the description of FIGURES l to 4.

In the species of FlGURE l2, a generally conventional dental chair l2?, has its base plate 123 movably mounted on four sprocket-type wheels 124-, the later-ally disposed pairs of ywhich ride back and forth on a pair of laterally disposed caterpillar-type tracks each formed by a continuous sprocket-type chain 325. Each chain 125 has fixed thereto la laterally protruding stop element 126 engageable with a stop pin or post l2? to arrest the forward movement of the chair l2?, in an operative position correspondmg to the phantom-shown position of the chair M7 in FIGURE ll. A foot pedal L3 ymay be employed to operate a conventional locking and releasing brake, or a starting, stopping and reversing controller of a chairmounted motor (all not shown).

While certain forms of the `invention have been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dentists Wheeled operatory Iunit for dental or like ytreatment rooms, comprising: a pair of laterally spaced cabinet structures, an elongated top member defining a large area work surface and positioned to overlie said cabinet structures and the feet of a patient seated before said operatory unit, means rigidly interconnecting said cabinet structures and said top memiber, wheels xed to and supporting said operatory unit and oriented for providing rectilinear movement thereof toward and away from said patient, whereby said patient may freely approach or leave an associated treatment chair from either side thereof, a reversible electric motor mounted on said operatory unit, means drivingly connecting said motor to certain of said wheels, a swingably attached euspidor mounted at the front of one of said cabinet structures and including a water faucet permanently mofunted on said cuspidor, a sink fxedly mounted in said operatory unit and having water faucets iixedly associated therewith, and iiexible conduits for fresh and Waste Water connected to said unit adjacent the bottom portions thereof 'and extending horizontally therefrom, said conduits lying loosely upon the surface of a floor supporting said unit, whereby marring of said surface is avoided.

2. Structure according to claim l, said wheels being 6 attached to the bottom portion of said operatory unit adjacent the corners` thereof.

3. Structure according to 'claim 1 additionally comprising tracks on which said wheels ride guided thereby, -said tracks bein-g free of attachment -to or other marrinlg association with the surface of said floor.

4. Structure according to claim 1, said cabinet structures having drawers and compartments for holding tools, instruments, materials and accessory apparatus.

5. Structure according to claim 1, additionally comprising a motor driven air compressor iixeidly mounted in said operatory unit.

6. Structure according to claim 1, additionally comprising a set of holders mounted thereon for holding power tools, and exible means for supplying power to said tools.

7. Structure according to claim 1, additionally comprising a sterilizer oven xedly mounted in one of said cabinet structures.

8. Structure according to claim 1, said top member being7 a sheet of opaque glass.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,119,982 Ohnstrand Dec. 8, 1914 2,308,812 Jankelson Ian. 19, 1943 2,351,943 Ebbers et al. June 20, 1944 2,419,370 Roof Apr. 22, 1947 2,424,729 Andreasen I-uly 29, 1947 2,772,639 Ingold Dec. 4, 1956 

1. A DENTIST''S WHEELED OPERATORY UNIT FOR DENTAL OR LIKE TREATMENT ROOMS, COMPRISING: A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED CABINET STRUCTURES, AN ELONGATED TOP MEMBER DEFINING A LARGE AREA WORK SURFACE AND POSITIONED TO OVERLIE SAID CABINET STRUCTURES AND THE FEET OF A PATIENT SEATED BEFORE SAID OPERATORY UNIT, MEANS RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING SAID CABINET STRUCTURES AND SAID TOP MEMBER, WHEELS FIXED TO AND SUPPORTING SAID OPERATORY UNIT AND ORIENTED FOR PROVIDING RECTILINEAR MOVEMENT THEREOF TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID PATIENT, WHEREBY SAID PATIENT MAY FREELY APPROACH OR LEAVE AN ASSOCIATED TREATMENT CHAIR FROM EITHER SIDE THEREOF, A REVERSIBLE ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID OPERATORY UNIT, MEANS DRIVINGLY CONNECTING SAID MOTOR TO CERTAIN OF SAID WHEELS, A SWINGABLY ATTACHED CUSPIDOR MOUNTED AT THE FRONT OF ONE OF SAID CABINET STRUCTURES AND INCLUDING A WATER FAUCET PERMANENTLY MOUNTED ON SAID CUSPIDOR, A SINK FIXEDLY MOUNTED IN SAID OPERATORY UNIT AND HAVING WATER FAUCETS FIXEDLY ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, AND FLEXIBLE CONDUITS FOR FRESH AND WASTE WATER CONNECTED TO SAID UNIT ADJACENT THE BOTTOM PORTIONS THEREOF AND EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY THEREFROM, SAID CONDUITS LYING LOOSELY UPON THE SURFACE OF A FLOOR SUPPORTING SAID UNIT, WHEREBY MARRING OF SAID SURFACE IS AVOIDED. 